Lets get to practicing!

[rickztahone]

One of the best ways to learn how to shoot is very simple, you actually go and shoot :). I am a self taught photographer. Do not get me wrong, I read a lot of books on photography, I also researched a lot of it online through forums and such, but the bulk of my learning was simply to go out and shoot.

If you take a look at this thread:
Practice (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?117195-Practice)

You will notice that Pat was one of my first guinea pigs. I simply gave her a set of instructions and she went out and did them. Sounds easy enough right?

Well, these drills or practice, helps you to get more familiarized with your gear. If you ask Pat now, I am sure she would tell you that she feels a lot more comfortable around her camera now-a-days, well at least I hope she does :)

My goal for this thread is to do something similar. I would like to give people a set amount of steps to complete, and I would like for you to share your shots here with us so we can review them.

I will only give a set of steps to take when someone has given me their gear information. For instance, you can say, "Rick, I have an iPhone 5 and would like to take this practice step-by-step". I will then try to cater around the gear that you are providing.

You will do the practice, post it here and we can review how you did.

A few links that you will need to read in order to interact in this thread:

You will need to know how to take pictures, we have them all here in the sticky thread, but I will link them here anyways:

Uploading photos using Flickr.com (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?117710-FAQ-How-to-upload-photos-using-Flickr)
Uploading photos using Photobucket.com (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?117709-FAQ-How-to-upload-photos-using-Photobucket)
Uploading photos using Imageshack (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?117708-FAQ-How-to-upload-photos-using-Imageshack)

Obtaining EXIF data will also be important. This is the embedded coding of the settings you used in order to take the practice shots. This will help me help you analyze the shots you are showing us after your practice session.
Read this thread to find how to view EXIF data: How to obtain EXIF data from photos (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?117705-How-to-obtain-EXIF-data-from-photos)

I hope we get a good amount of participants. This is not limited to aquarium photograph only. You can go out in your back yard, just as Pat did and start practicing in real world environments.

[Second Hand Pat]

As Ricardo mentioned he, Paul and other team members have helped me improve my photography skills to a whole new level while the Photo Centre was being developed. I have moved from auto mode to Aperture Priority mode setting my f-stops, ISO and manually focusing the lens. I also moved my photos from photobucket to Flickr as photobucket like to distort the photos.

I would encourage you to start your practice thread first with listing your gear, where you feel you are and your goals. I will continue working with Ricardo here in the Photo Centre and you guys will get to see the progression. I suggest reading thru my practice thread linked by Ricardo so you can see how it goes. :D:D
Pat

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7293/16477436431_f168f402f2_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/r74aMz)DSC_7335 (https://flic.kr/p/r74aMz) by plh (https://www.flickr.com/people/129594174@N08/), on Flickr

[rickztahone]

As Ricardo mentioned he, Paul and other team members have helped me improve my photography skills to a whole new level while the Photo Centre was being developed. I have moved from auto mode to Aperture Priority mode setting my f-stops, ISO and manually focusing the lens. I also moved my photos from photobucket to Flickr as photobucket like to distort the photos.

I would encourage you to start your practice thread first with listing your gear, where you feel you are and your goals. I will continue working with Ricardo here in the Photo Centre and you guys will get to see the progression. I suggest reading thru my practice thread linked by Ricardo so you can see how it goes. :D:D
Pat

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7293/16477436431_f168f402f2_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/r74aMz)DSC_7335 (https://flic.kr/p/r74aMz) by plh (https://www.flickr.com/people/129594174@N08/), on Flickr

Grasshopper will soon surpass master with these nice shots!

Pat, your next progression will be full manual mode :)

[Second Hand Pat]

Grasshopper will soon surpass master with these nice shots!

Pat, your next progression will be full manual mode :)

That a true statement Ricardo :D:D

[Ardan]

OK, I will give it a go. I am a total beginner. Have almost always used a point and shoot camera, but just purchased a digital camera and interchangeable lenses.
I purchased it "used" with guidance from Ricardo. Thank you Ricardo!!
I purchased a Sony a57 slt camera and multiple lenses and a flash.
here is my list
Tamron SP 70 - 300mm/F/4-5.6
Minolta 50mm 1:2.8 Macro
Minolta 24mm 1:2.8
Minolta 50mm 1:1.7
Sony HVL-F42AM Flash
ordered Minolta 35-105mm F/3.5-4.5 I Macro (was very cheap, will see, looked like another learning tool)
I also ordered a toy (new) telephoto 650mm-2500mm, but that will be another day to play with. We live near a wooded area and there is some wildlife and trees that are interesting, plus I like insects, flowers, etc mabe even a moon shot or 2 sometime

I have a tripod also (2 actually, I had one from years ago that is heavy and heavy duty....)

Anyway A couple of these I chose on my own to play with and learn, the rest I had help choosing some very good lenses and camera, all used from KEH.com All are in excellent condition.

I did go over my budget a ways, but I don't like to pass up a good deal on a good product, I don't like to buy something that I need to replace right away....

I look forward to learning about this stuff, but will have to take it a bit slow because of my age ;) LOL J/K. Time is limited and I am not too sure how fast I can learn this.....
My goals are to have fun! and capture some interesting nature and learn about the camera and its abilities (if I work it right)
I really like the interchangeable lens and what they can do. Having fun with it is number 1, I don't want to get frustrated, there is a ton to learn, but little steps at a time and I will be happy. I do love to read and bought a couple downloads from Friedman....
I have also been reading and rereading the threads here by Paul, Al, Ricardo, Matt, Len and others input, including Pats journey to learning. All good stuff! I appreciate all of you taking the time to share this valuable information!!:)

Thanks in advance for this opportunity!

Ardan

[rickztahone]

Sounds great Ardan! You splurged a little! lol. Welcome to the world of photography. Awesome that you got the 24 2.8. I own that and it is a great small lens to have. I'm glad you went wider than the suggested talk we had. The 35-105 is an EXCELLENT lens but there is a lot of sample variation. So hopefully you got a good one. They are cheap but built really well.

I am currently about to leave work so I will save the practice with you till I get home. Great score on all of those though. I told you Keh delivers! Their rating system is excellent. Always better than what they rate at.

[Ardan]

Thanks Ricardo,
Yes I am happy with Keh.com
also been reading on the dyxum forum about the lens, that's why I chose the 35-105 at a great price, we will see what arrives this week and how good it is.
So far I am learning and having fun even though I haven't done a lot yet, but it is great to have excellent input to help me with this, otherwise I wouldn't know where to start....

I will try to behave in school;):p

Ardan

[Loosir]

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7293/16477436431_f168f402f2_z.jpg
This photo is almost as ridiculously gorgeous as these fish! Love both fish and photo a lot
Geoff

[Second Hand Pat]

This photo is almost as ridiculously gorgeous as these fish! Love both fish and photo a lot
Geoff

Thanks Geoff :D
Pat

[rickztahone]

Ok Ardan, this practice is catered towards you.

Since you will be dealing with an EVF (electric view finder), your practice will be a little easier.

This is your camera, so we will use this for reference. Top left is 1, top right is 2, bottom left 3, bottom right 4:

http://prohardver.hu/dl/cnt/2012-03/83424/slta57_big.jpg

What I need you to do is go outside and do the following.

In picture 3 you will see the mode dial. The small white line is your set value. Go ahead and switch that dial to M for manual.

Now you will be in full manual mode, which means you control everything from shutter speed to aperture and so on.

In the following picture you will see the live LCD screen which should look similar to yours:
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17jwf1l56kkjijpg/original.jpg

You will notice that to the right of the aperture value, in this case f/5.0, you have a +/- value and a 0.0. This is your exposure metering. What you want to do is keep your exposure as close to 0.0 as possible. In order to do this, you will need to adjust your shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

1.-Aperture

You move the Aperture by moving the front scroll wheel in photo 2. Top left wheel right in front of your shutter release.

2.-ISO

In photo 3 you will see the ISO button. A cool shortcut is holding the ISO button and using the scroll wheel to get to your desired ISO

3.-Shutter Speed
Since your camera does not offer a rear scroll wheel, you must activate shutter speed by hitting an alt button. It is the same as on key board. You simply hold down a button and hit another key. Same thing with this camera. You will need to press and hold the AEL button shown in the first picture right next to the red movie button. While holding it, you will then use the scroll wheel the same as adjusting the ISO. This will change your Shutter Speed values

Lastly, you have your:

4.-White Balance

On the 1st photo you will notice that you have four buttons on the D pad. Display on top/timer modes left/picture effects bottom/wb right. You will press the wb button to change white balance.


My assignment to you is to simply play around with these 4 settings and see how they impact the overall picture right there on the LCD. Since you have an EVF, all of the changes you are making, including WB will show you EXACTLY how your shot is going to look before you hit the shutter button. So, if your lcd looks dark, that means that you have to adjust one of your settings. Either increase your ISO, lower your shutter speed, or open up your aperture more. There is an interdependence amongst these settings that I would like for you to play around with to get a feel for them. Stick to the main three I gave you and only do 4 (white balance) after you have gotten the hang of the top 3. Leave WB in automatic for the time being until you are ready to change the settings.

Do that and get back to me. We will go over what all of these settings mean after you have played around with them a bit.

P.S. NEVER TOUCH THE TRANSLUCENT MIRROR WHEN YOU REMOVE THE LENS. NEVER BLOW ON THIS MIRROR OR THE SENSOR WITH YOUR MOUTH. Only use a special blower for this purpose. You can ruin your camera if you do not do this, so please be careful.

[Ardan]

Thanks for all this info Ricardo!
Already you have cleared up a few things for me. I will work on playing with the settings tonight.

Thank you
Ardan

[Ardan]

Hi Ricardo,
I have been experimenting with those settings and see their impact on the pictures. Of course I don't understand "when to change which one", but I think you will help me learn that process....:)
I appreciate you enlightening me about the exposure meter! That is a big help already.
If you want me to practice more I will, but I think it is going to take much practice to really get proficient, otherwise we can discuss these items in more detail if you wish.

Thank you!
Ardan

[rickztahone]

Hi Ricardo,
I have been experimenting with those settings and see their impact on the pictures. Of course I don't understand "when to change which one", but I think you will help me learn that process....:)
I appreciate you enlightening me about the exposure meter! That is a big help already.
If you want me to practice more I will, but I think it is going to take much practice to really get proficient, otherwise we can discuss these items in more detail if you wish.

Thank you!
Ardan

Exposure metering is a huge part of photography. Understanding it, and knowing how to change it is a top thing to learn. So, with that said, we will move on to the next phase.

We will again take it slow, and the next step is simply for me to explain to you WHY these setting adjustments do what they do.

When you change the:

ISO:
ISO is typically your absolute last resort to trying to get good exposure. ISO is the sensitivity of light to the camera sensor. The more "gain" or increase in ISO value, the more "grain" or "noise" you will get. Noise is a quality you typically do not want in your shots. Of course all shots have some level of noise, but you want to reduce the noise as much as possible in camera. You can of course work on removing some noise in post processing, but that can get tedious as well.

Aperture:
This is one of the main studs of the show. Aperture dictates a few things. Simply put, the aperture is just the opening of the lens. The wider the opening of the lens, the lower the number will be. The smaller the opening is, the larger the number will be. The term "fast lens" is in referrence to how wide a lens can go. Typically, you refer to lenses in the f/2.0 and wider as fast lenses because they gather more light and allow you to use faster shutter speeds. Aperture also controls your creative expressions because aperture will determine how blurry or not as blurry a shot will be, also referred to as "bokeh".

Since you have a Minolta 50 1.7, that is considered your fastest lens. If you shoot this lens "wide open", at f/1.7, then your subject has a very shallow depth of field and anything behind your main subject will be rendered smoothly out of focus quite quickly. You may ask, "why not always shoot wide open?". The answer is easy, the wider your lens, the more difficult it is to nail focus. If your subject moves just a little bit, and if they are rather close to you, it gets really difficult to nail focus at wide apertures. I have a lens that goes down to f/1.2 and almost no part of the shot is rarely "tack sharp" (this lens is known for this, and this type of shot is typically consdered a "dream look" shot).

So, aperture, if you are outdoors and it is bright and sunny, you can basically set your aperture to your hearts desire because there is so much light. Too much light in fact that most times you can not shoot wide open in these conditions typically. If you are indoors, you want to open up your aperture to let more light in.

So, to recap on aperture, outdoors, lots of light, you want to "stop down" or rather, close down your aperture which in turn will give you a lot more depth of field and is much easier to get things in focus.

Shutter Speed:
Shutter speed works in direct inverse to aperture. If for instance, you are outdoors and you would like to stop down your aperture, then your shutter speed will have to be decreased to compensate for the loss of light from you reducing the aperture. This is due to the fact that the shutter actuation needs more time (fractions of a second) in order to compensate for less light going through the aperture. If for instance, you are in the same scenario outdoors but you want less DOF and would like a blurry background, then you will have to increase your shutter speed in order to make your shutter work much faster to compensate for the aperture letting in so much light.

These 3 have a very dynamic relationship. Once you learn when you have to adjust one, adjusting the other will become second nature. For now, I would like for you to keep practicing with these 3 but keep everything I mentioned in mind. Let me know if that makes sense. I didn't have time to reread my reply because I am finishing up a work project atm, but reach out to me if you need more clarification.

[Ardan]

Thank you for this helpful information Ricardo!
I am going to copy this to my computer and refer to it often.:)

Ardan